The Best of the Best

Remember the post I made on January 7 - about how excited I was to get the new Bind-it-All 2.0? I was thrilled to receive it - and the whole thing was even sweeter due to the deal I got. I couldn't wait to use it.

I've pulled it out several times since then, not totally sure what I was going to bind - but knowing I wanted to bind something. Each time was the same, though - the owner's manual didn't arrive with my machine, and I can't watch the DVD. I don't know why...but it doesn't work. So I would pull the machine out every other week or so, apparently expecting faries from the Land of Owner's Manuals to silently fly in and slip one next machine. But that never happened. Every time I pulled it out to "play", I would inevitably return it to the shelf, both sad and frustrated that I couldn't use it. This sequence of events occurred nine or ten times since the Bind-it-All 2.0 moved in. (I told you I was evidently expecting faries to bring me a manual or something!)After receiving the awesome 120 pages from the Technique Fat Book Swap I participated in lasst month, I needed a way to organize the pages for easy reference and viewing. Which prompted me to bring out the Bind-it-All 2.0 yet again. This time, however, I was "bound" (lol) and determined to use the machine. I emailed the owner of the store to let him know about my problem - and received a response stating he would "look around to see if one can be located". Hmmm That doesn't seem like it will clear up my problem anytime soon. So I sucked it up and away I went.Rather impressed with myself - but not having a clue whether I did it "right" - I created 4 small books out of the pages. After binding the first 2 books it dawned on me that I should have just made one long book - but by the time that thought crossed my mind, I didn't want to waste the binding rings I had already cut up and used. Something I will definitely keep in mind after the next swap wraps up. (Which, incidentally is another 120 page swap - this time focusing on "quotes". YAY! Should be fun!) So take a look at what I came up with. I wish I could show you every page I received - it was highly successful with only a few pages that were just "thrown" together without much care. Most are gorgeous and incredibly inventive.

There is a sampling of a page from each book. I categorized the pages into similar techniques - there is a wide variety of things to try...YAY again! The writing (on the far left) is the instructions for the technique on the previous page. There isn't one technique I won't attempt - they all look interesting! I'm glad I participated - and stoked I got the pages organized and bound. Woot!